(Tennessee to Iowa in 1850)
Robert and Martha Warrick, along with the families of Thomas and James Ramsey; Josiah and William Wheelis; Anderson Edwards and Rebecca Edwards; along with other families, built a flatboat and launched it on the Powells River in Lee County, Virginia in April 1850. They drifted down this stream into the Clinch River and on into the Tennessee River until they reached Padukah, Kentucky. Here they sold their flatboats and took a steamboat up the Mississippi River to Alexandria, Mo. near Keokuk, Iowa.
Soon after arriving in Alexandria, Missouri, the families bought wagons and teams and drove them overland to Drakesville, in Davis County, Iowa, sixty miles away. Sometime after reaching Alexandria and before crossing into Iowa, Martha gave birth to a girl named Margaret in Clark or Scotland County, Missouri, May 3, 1850. Martha's older sister, Margaret (Hatfield) King was there at the birth of her niece and acted in the capacit of midwife.
The journey overland from Drakesville must have been quite an event. Such chores as taking care of the double yoke of oxen, horses and the family milk cow and chickens, if they were taken, was probably designated to the children.
Clothing was important for their welfare, and Robert's outfit consisted of 4 to 6 pair of rough sturdy shirts, one or two pairs of good buckskin pantaloons, a buckskin coat and a broad-brimmed hat. Possibly several pair of boots and good stout socks and underwear.
As for Martha and the girls, their outfits probably included loose pantaloons, hunting frock or long coat, stout rugged shoes, and sunbonnets. Medicines were taken along such as calomel, castor oil, Pargoric, Laudanum and essence of Peppermint for digestive problems.
The wagons and supplies were made as waterproof as possible, as they would encounter frequent drenching rains and rivers and streams to ford. The cover for the wagon was made of heavy linen or orsnaburg, or well oiled or painted canvas.
Cooking utensils and materials needed for the next day's meal were put in the front box under the driver's seat. A hook on the side of the wagon held a tightly covered churn for the milk. A days' bumpy travel provided them with butter! Hooks for lanterns and pans, clothes lines, water kegs, pails, etc., were a necessity.
A day's travel started soon after first light at which time a quick breakfast was cooked. After breakfast, the teams were hooked up and provisions were stored back into the wagons, and soon they were ready to roll.
It is believed that the families reached Drakesville in mid to late May, 1850, where they established homes and remained through the winter. In the later part of April, 1851, Robert and Martha, along with the rest of the families, started out for Decatur County, Iowa. the southwestern area of Iowa was not settled at this time because of the difficulty in crossing the Grand River.
Life In Iowa for the Warricks
The Warricks arrived in Decatur County, Iowa a short time before the twelfth of May 1851; at which time the remaining families arrived. These early families settled in Richland Township, and this area would later became known as the "Tennessee Neighborhood" as so many of them came from Tennessee. They arrived during the rainy season and were the first settlers in that part of the country. Many hardships were encountered that first winter. The first thing to be done was to build cabins and plant gardens, and later to start fields in which to raise corn. There they had to pound meal in a mortar for bread and out of frostbitten corn at that.
There were no roads and the nearest settlement was Hopevilie, 8 miles away, then called the Colony.
Soon after arriving, Robert built a small one-room log cabin about 16 x 16 feet and shingled with clapboards. Constructed of squared logs and notched at each end, It was no mansion, but it would be adequate. There was a small half attic which was used by the older children while Margaret probably slept in a cradle next to Robert and Martha's bed. The door was opened by a buckskin string that was attached to a wooden latch. A fireplace was present and furniture consisted of homemade chairs uppholstered with hickory bark and the old wooden bed crisscrossed with 1/4 inch rope under a straw tick or shuck mattress.
Game was very plentiful then such as deer and wild turkey; and wild bees were also very plentiful and some were very rich with honey. As most accounts will bear out, Robert was considered a good hunter and provided his family with plenty of game.
So far, the Warricks had not regretted their move, as the dissention between the North and the South was becoming more evident with each day. Things were becoming uncontrollable between the Northern sympathizers and the Southern Aristocrates. Henry Clay's attempt to bring in a plan for the gradual emancipation of the slaves brought about his resignation in 1850; and the feelings were at a very high level in Tennessee. This along with the discovery of gold in California caused a great many people to begin migrating to the western parts of the United States.
On January 14, 1856, Robert bought 160 acres of land from James and Mary Brink who lived in Clarke County;
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Last revised November 14, 2013